Beginning in Fall 2013, every residence hall on campus will have a desk-side recycling bin courtesy of TU. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability, Housing and Residence Life, and University Residence Government (URG). As a part of this initiative, every student who lives in the residence halls will receive a cardboard desk-side recycling bin with a label describing TU’s recycling guidelines as part of move-in.
Prior to this, resident students did not have any kind of recycling receptacle in their room. Students who wanted to recycle had to sort their recycling in the trash rooms or bring their own recycling bin. This contributed to the low recycling rate of 18% in the residence halls. Clara Fang, TU’s Sustainability Manager, researched and proposed a recycling bin that would be suitable for the residence rooms. Housing and Residence Life paid for the bins and URG paid for the recycling guidelines labels. “We are very happy to support this initiative to show our commitment towards sustainability,” says Jerry Dieringer, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs. The initiative is part of Towson’s waste reduction program to increase Towson’s recycling rate from 18 percent to the state mandate of 30 percent.
